Meet the Parents
by kingdomkeepers365
Summary: Eve hasn't seen her parents in years, and she doesn't know what they'll think when she shows up to dinner with an unexpected plus one by her side. To make matters more complicated, she's got more things to announce than just dating Flynn. For the season 2 countdown fic celebration!


**A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry this is only the second fic I've written for the season 2 countdown. Got swamped with homework last week, and it was homecoming. Anyway, I started working on this months ago, but finally finished it this past week. Hope you enjoy!**

Eve and Flynn held hands as they walked through the streets of New York City towards a fancy restaurant that was clearly frequented only by those who were rich, important, or both. Flynn sighed nervously.

"Flynn you really don't have to do this" Eve insisted, knowing that certain social situations could be difficult for the Librarian.

"No" he stuttered. "I-I want to. This is important"

"I know but…"

"Eve, I don't know when the next chance I'll get to meet your parents will be. I'm excited. I'm just, nervous"

"Well I'm nervous too! I didn't know you were coming when I spoke to my mom, and I haven't gotten the chance to after the fact. They don't even know I'm seeing someone! Let alone…"

Flynn moved in towards Eve and kissed her, cutting her off and calming both of them down. She smiled. That was her Librarian; he always knew how to make her feel better.

"Let's go" he whispered.

The couple entered the restaurant.

"Hi" Eve said to the matordee. "I have reservations with Colonel Michael Baird." The woman grabbed two menus and indicated a table just to her right.

Catching sight of her parents Eve, immediately tensed up. Her parents were strict. Her father was a military man, and he acted like it. Her mother wasn't much different, although she was a bit warmer. They weren't horrible parents. They were kind people, but certainly were nothing like Flynn. Dinner with them was usually enjoyable, but she had changed a lot since joining the Library. This meeting could be disastrous.

Flynn squeezed her hand tightly. She released a breath as her father stood up to greet her.

"Hello Eve" he said, reaching out to hug her.

"Hello Dad" she replied. "Hi Mom" she embraced both of her parents. She took a deep breath knowing that the easy part was over. "This is Flynn Carsen. " she said, indicating the Librarian.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Baird" Flynn said, his voice trembling as he shook both of her parents' hands. The couple sat down, both looking at the floor, full of nervous energy.

Eve's parents were staring at her quizzically, expecting an explanation.

"So what looks good?" she asked, staring at her menu, trying to avoid the inevitable conversation.

"What about the Eggplant Parmasean?" Flynn suggested, leaning in to see Eve's menu.

"Not after we ate it in Rome" The conversation had turned private, the two of them in their own world.

"Oh you're right. Nothing could top that. Thus, I suppose I'll have a steak"

"You and your 'thus'es." Eve laughed.

"I thought you loved them" Flynn joked, bumping her with his shoulder.

"I do" she laughed. It wasn't until her father cleared his throat that she realized she had drawn away from her parents.

"Sorry" she stated, embarrassed.

"So Eve sweetie" her mother began, trying desperately to make the situation more comfortable. "It's been so long since we've seen you. How have you been?"

"Oh good. A lot's happened in the past two years, you know, I think I've been changing for the better."

"Changed so much that you left NATO?" Eve turned to her father to find him looking at her sternly. She had hoped that this wouldn't come up. There was no real way she could explain to him why she left.

"I wasn't aware that you knew about that" she whispered, unable to look him in the eye.

"I've got a buddy who heard about it and told me, and now I know it's true because you've grown your hair out"

Eve's hands flew to her neck, where she felt her hair cascading down onto her shoulders. She had forgotten to secure it into a bun before coming here.

"I think it looks lovely darling" her mother chimed, eyeing her husband angrily.

"Thank you, and... yes" Eve gulped. "I-I don't work for NATO anymore"

"And I also find out that you transferred to work at a _library_!"

Eve didn't know what to say or do. This night was already worse than she had thought, and it didn't have anything to do with her relationship with Flynn. She _wished_ that could be the topic of conversation now.

"Well I…" she stuttered. Her father sighed, changing his tone of voice.

"Look Eve I'm not trying to be harsh, I'm really not. I just don't see how this would interest you. You always seemed so happy to be working in the military. How do you fit in working at a Library?"

"Well it's not really a Library" Flynn chimed in. Eve looked at him quizzically. Was he about to give away the Library's secret?

"I'm sorry if I'm intruding" he continued "It's like a historical society almost, we just call ourselves The Library. We recover artifacts and stuff for museums and things. Am I rambling? You know we'll go find these objects from mythology, or we'll find something from a museum that was stolen"

"Right!" Eve interjected, following his lead. She smiled at him, silently thanking him for saving her. "And I'm like a bodyguard of sorts. The work can get dangerous, so I make sure nothing happens to the…historians. Like Flynn"

"Exactly" Flynn said. Underneath the table, he placed a comforting hand on Eve's leg. She grabbed it and held tight.

At that moment, the waiter came by.

"Would you like some wine miss?" he asked.

"Yes" Eve exclaimed. The man filled her glass and was about to walk away.

"Leave the bottle" Eve stated before taking a huge gulp from her filled glass.

"So you two work together?" Eve's mother asked, pointing to her and Flynn.

"Yes" Flynn answered calmly, hoping for Eve' sake that the evening could mellow out now.

Grace Baird smiled warmly at her daughter.

"Oh Eve sweetheart" she sighed. "I'm so happy you finally found someone"

Eve froze and stared at her mother. Flynn smiled, happy now that everything was working out. Eve however could not yet release her tension.

"How did you…" she stuttered.

"Well you brought him to dinner with you, and before, when you two got your menus you were saying what you loved about him"

Suddenly, Eve laughed. It was laughter of relief. She had worried so much, and yet here everything was, happening so easily. She looked at Flynn, confirming that they were both ready to move on to the next announcement. Flynn simply nodded, and when he looked at her with those all-loving eyes, she couldn't fear anything.

"Actually…" she began.

She was cut off by the sound of chairs moving at the table next to them. Instinctively, she turned her head to see who was arriving. Instantly, the fear rushed back. She picked up her menu and brought it up to cover her face.

Flynn, noticing the mood change, leaned in to talk to her.

"Are you okay?" he whispered.

"No" she panted. "This is bad. Very bad"

"Why?"

"Those people at the table next to us…"

"What about them?"

"The man, he's…"

"Jack" she was cut off by her father's stern voice. It was too late. So much for the peaceful night. Everything was about to go downhill.

Eve put down her menu and tried her best not to look panicked. Flynn reached for her hand, but she was running them through her hair, grasping the strands tightly.

"Eve I don't get it…who is…"

"Father" the man said.

"Your brother?" Flynn whispered.

"Yes" Eve spoke through her teeth. "Estranged from my parents"

"Oh"

Flynn finally understood the problem. The appearance of Eve's estranged brother could only mean tension, and tension did not spell good news for them.

"I see you brought your wife with you" All of the kindness had disappeared from Grace Baird's face. There was a new coldness that Flynn had not expected.

Eve began to slip back into her reserved form. This was worse than she had feared. There was no way she could tell them tonight, no way in hell.

Thinking quickly, Flynn pulled out his phone and looked at it in his lap.

"Oh look!" he exclaimed. "A missed call from work. Sounds sort of urgent too."

Eve stared at him, not sure what was going on. A library disaster was just what she needed right now. Couldn't they just divert it to the other Librarians? As she thought this, her eye caught the back of the room, where a couple was being seated at a table: a couple that looked like, but it couldn't be; Stone and Cassandra?

After that, she was glad to take the opportunity to get as far away from that table as possible.

"Well then" she said, looking at Flynn, still confused. "I think we need to attend to that. If you'd excuse us for a minute"

Librarian and Guardian walked to a back hallway near the restrooms, far away from all the tables near them. Eve started panicking, a rare occurrence. The former NATO Colonel was almost always able to remain stone-faced in calm in the middle of chaos, and yet here she was, losing it in the middle of a restaurant.

Flynn placed his hands on her shoulders. He tried his best to calm her down, though he wasn't used to this. The evening had forced a role reversal upon them that he didn't experience often. Normally he was the one that needed to be calmed.

"Listen to me Eve" he whispered. "I'm right here okay. Just tell me what's going on"

"That's my brother Jack." Eve muttered. She was half-crying, her voice behaving in a way it almost never did.

"Oh I got that"

"He's my younger brother by two years. When he was going off to college, he told my parents that he was going to be a writer. They didn't like that"

"They don't seem like the type to be unsupportive of career choices though. I mean, they seemed okay with you switching to the Library…eventually"

"That's the thing" Eve explained. "I'm not working as some kind of artist. They're the 'it's not practical' parents. Long story short, they wouldn't pay for him to get a writing degree. The relationship never really recovered after that"

"But I don't get it. I haven't known your parents very long, but they seem like the type who would come around eventually"

"Oh they would have, but Jack never really forgave them for the whole 'unsupportive' thing. At one point I was trying to convince him to make up with them; I already had them roped in, and then Jack didn't invite them to his wedding"

"Oh boy" Flynn sighed. One word and he understood all of the problems. No wonder Eve was panicking.

"I'm not sure we can tell them tonight"

"Yes we can" Flynn assured her, half assuring himself as well. "Look at me. You are not your brother, and you're not your parents either. You're Eve Baird, my guardian, and the woman I love. So we're going to tell them. This is your life, not theirs."

Eve smiled. Her breathing began to slow again. Ever so gradually, she was evolving back into her normal self.

Flynn thought about what to do, what she always did to calm him down. Remembering a few specific instances, he leaned in and brought his lips to hers. When he pulled away and her eyes opened again, they were calm, focused. She grabbed his hand, nodded, and walked with him back to the table.

The scene they found there was in no way reassuring. There was some shouting going on now. Jake's wife was standing behind him, looking extremely uncomfortable.

"I just don't understand how you could take such a huge step in your relationship and not tell us!" Eve's mother exclaimed. Eve froze where she stood.

 _No_ she thought _I definitely cannot tell them_

The feel of Flynn's hand on the small off her back pushed her forward again. As she watched her family argue, she was flooded with memories.

 _She calls home one day from her base, eager to hear from her family, and she's met on the other end by the sound of horrible yelling._

"Because" Jack yelled. "Karen is a writer too. I thought because you hated them so much, you wouldn't want to come to the marriage of two!"

 _She's sitting at Jack's wedding. All around her people whisper, wondering where the groom's parents are._

"Do you know how much you hurt your mother Jack?" Her father now.

"Do you know how much both of you hurt me?!"

 _She's with her parents at her aunt's house one Sunday. Jack and Karen's thank you comes in the mail. The pained look in her mother's eyes is something she's never seen before_

"Stop!" she shouted, perhaps a little bit too loudly for the elegant environment. All of the eyes at the table turned to her, confused, as if only just remembering that they were not alone.

"Mom, Dad, Flynn is not just my boyfriend. We're getting married. Anyway, that's all I came to tell you, and we can probably get food somewhere else so I think we'll be going now"

Eve turned to walk away and found herself facing Stone and Cassandra again. The added confusion was not helping her situation at the moment.

"Eve" her mother's voice was soft, sweet. For a moment, it brought her back to days in her childhood, those times when she considered herself part of a happy family, before everything fell apart.

She turned around slowly. Her mother was standing up, tears filling her eyes, and the softest smile on her lips. Jack had returned to his table. He didn't look up, seemingly pretending like his family wasn't there.

Her father was more difficult to read. He sat in his chair, reading his menu. Eve could read people like books, but from the youngest age, her father always had the power to allude her.

"Why didn't you tell us?" her mother cried. Eve walked back closer to her seat. She braced herself, holding the back of the chair.

"I was afraid" she whispered. "Of what you would think?"

"But why?" Although she didn't say it, Eve could tell that her mother already knew the answer.

"Because" she explained. "All of this: my job change, Flynn, my life, it's so different from what I've always had. It's so different from what you'd expect of me."

"Eve sweetheart" her mother said, walking around the table and placing her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "We just want you to be happy."

"That wasn't the case for Jack" Eve cried.

"We did want that for Jack, we do. I regret what I said every day, and I wish I never had. The situation with your brother now is more complicated, you know that"

Eve's eyes filled with more tears. No matter how she denied it, she really did want her parents to be happy with her choices. She wanted them there watching when she promised to love Flynn forever. She may be independent, but she still loved her family. She didn't want what happened with Jack to happen again.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier" Eve's mother brought her into an embrace, and the Guardian accepted it. They stayed together for a long moment, before Grace's eyes fell on Flynn.

"And you" she urged, addressing him. "You better take good care of my little girl"

"Oh I intend on it" he replied. Eve laughed and moved over to join her fiancée. He placed his arm around her and kissed her on the head.

The couple turned to find Colonel Baird standing in front of the table.

"Sir" Flynn addressed him, not sure what to expect. Eve tensed up again, afraid of what was to come. Her mother and father had always had very different dispositions. The latter approached the pair and looked back and forth between them.

"While I don't necessarily understand or agree with all of your life changes…." he began. The tension heightened for a brief moment, while the Colonel paused. "I could not be ore overjoyed at your announcement.

Eve's face broke into a huge smile. Unable to help herself, she rushed to hug her father. After all her misgivings, all her fears, everything had turned out perfectly.

"We're just so glad to see you happy Eve" her father continued. "To be honest, you were always a great soldier, but it worried me how caught up in your work you became. To see you happy, in love, settling down…it puts me at peace as a Father"

"This is something we've thought you needed for a while" her mother added.

Eve rolled her eyes, but smiled none the less. She could argue, but her parents were right. Before the library, her work controlled her. She didn't remember the last time she was as happy as she was with the Librarians.

"And I really think you've made a great choice" her mother expressed, as everyone returned to their seats.

"I think so too" Eve whispered, leaning her head on Flynn's shoulder.

Suddenly, she felt him shift underneath her. Confused, she sat up and found him staring quizzically at the back of the room.

"Is that Stone and Cassandra?" he whispered.

"You just noticed Librarian?" Eve remarked. "I think we have some questions for your little LITs tomorrow"

"Indeed guardian"

The couple laughed and shared a quick kiss. Eve looked over at her parents, smiling and conversing over their menus. She looked next to her, and met eyes with Karen, Jake's wife.

"Congratulations" she mouthed.

"Thank you" Eve mouthed back. If she wasn't mistaken, she thought she saw Jack flash a quick smile her way as well.

This, she knew now, was happiness. Colonel Eve Baird, always content in her place to place life, never thought she'd be here. She had never been searching for this, and yet it had found her so suddenly, in the form of a mad man from a Library.

 _Home_ she thought. _This is home_

 **A/N: Hope everyone enjoyed it! Im so excited for season 2! I've been exploding for 10 months and now its 3 days away! I can't believe it! Although I'm anxious about the coming Evlynn tension, I'm still excited to see them as an established couple. See you soon LITs!**


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